Federation of Students Elections

What is Senate?

Made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni (and some governors for good measure) the UW senate is the highest academic decision making body at the University of Waterloo. There are a few key facts to know about Senate if you are going to be a successful senator. They relate to the powers of the senate, the ways that items get to the senate and the composition of the senate.

1. Powers of Senate:

For a conclusive list, please read the above website. It will provide a very detailed run down over everything that senate approves. For the purpose of this breakdown, however, I want to focus on two broad statements of importance. First, senate has the power to set educational policies. Essentially, what this means is that apart from decisions of finance / operations, the senate is the final decision maker at the University of Waterloo. Operationally, what this means is that for standards of educational quality, minimums for students performance, calendar dates etc it is Senate has the final stamp of approval. The second important piece to note is that senate will make recommendations to the Board of Governors on issues of operations (The BoGs is the highest decision making body of the University for everything not academic in scope and is made up of internal and external representatives). This piece is important, because often recommendations of senate carry at the BoGs, because of the moral weight that senate holds at the university. The is normally important for long term planning, construction and fee structures.

2. The Composition of senate:

Understanding the make up of senate is crucial to effecting positive change at senate and ensuring that proposal passed by senate do not have a negative impact on students. Senate, according to the University of Waterloo Act, must have a composition that is 50+1% faculty members. What this means is that student senators must, from time to time, become both lobbyists and senators. Since students can never win a vote alone, they must work to convince a sizeable number of faculty senators that their argument is the correct one. This can be a bit intimidating at first. You will often need to debate points against top administrators, faculty members, and associate deans. Success in these situations is heavily tied to being prepared for the meeting (knowing the arguments that will be presented, talking to influential faculty members before the meeting, and understanding the flow of business to senate) and not being intimidated by the individuals in the room (I can not stress these two points enough).

3. The flow of business to senate:

There are a number of ways that business gets to senate. It is virtually impossible for something to sneak up to senate without it passing through many hands (that doesn't, of course, mean that business hasn't snuck up on senators in the past). Committees of senate, which I will get to later, faculty councils, and research bodies at the University will always send items to senate for approval. What this means is that if each of the bodies below senate are working at an optimal level, senate meetings become pretty simple; the work of ensuring that only the best proposals are even being discussed at senate is already done. However, as is common in life, things are rarely run perfectly. Often times proposals come from subcommittees that are opposed by students. At this point it is the job of the student senators to convince the senate members that the proposal should not be supported. It is often from Senate Undergraduate Council that these proposals come forward, so pay extra attention to this Council (http://secretariat.uwaterloo.ca/bylaws/senbylaw9.htm).

What does a student senator do?

Over the past two years, the role of a student senator has expanded, as the culture inside of senate has changed and the student members of senate have become more active. At present, I would divide the position of a student senator into three distinct roles: active participant at senate meetings, advocate for students and diligent committee member.

1. Active participant:

There are only 9 people who can speak for undergraduate students at senate meetings. They, of course, are the 9 students selected to represent students at senate. If students senators are quiet on an issue, it is an implied consent from students on a particular issue. This means two things: student senators need to be well prepared for meetings (know the items of business, discuss the impact of decisions being made etc), and if you oppose something, you should be prepared to speak against it.

2. Student Advocate:

As mentioned above, students are out numbered on senate. Fortunately, the last two years have demonstrated that numbers aren't as important as good arguments and strong positions. Over the past two years student senators have been successful, because the faculty is prepared to listen to good arguments and the student senators have found ways to articulate concerns to senate and the university at large. Being a student advocate at the senate level has a number of different faucets. First, there will be times were a media campaign is needed. This means (often as a collective) creating press releases presenting your case and talking to campus media. Social media is also important for this information dissemination. Second, you must also advocate to senators and administrators. The shortening of Orientation, is an important example of how senators have expanded past their historic role to work with key members of the admin. Our current senators have been meeting with top administrators to discuss the calendar for much of this year to make sure that the best decisions are made regarding the calendar.

3. Diligent committee member

Often the most important work happens before a meeting. In the case of senate it often happens before meetings that are before senate. As a senator, you will likely sit on a senate committee. It is important that you attend these meetings and tell other student senators about issues that come up at these meetings before they get to senate. Good communication between student senators reduces workload and improves the positions taken at senate.

Committees of Senate:

Below is a list of the committees of senate and links to their websites:

• Executive Committee
• Finance Committee
• Graduate & Research Council
• Honorary Degrees Committee
• Honorary Member of the University
• Long Range Planning Committee
• Undergraduate Council
• University Committee on Student Appeals

Important issues over the part two years:

1. Exam accommodations

There was a proposal on the table from the university to remove accommodations for students writing back-to-back examinations. Students senators reached out to campus media, met with members of the faculty (including the faculty association) and had students attend the senate meeting. In the end, the vote at senate was overwhelmingly against the proposal. For the student senators in the room, it was the first victory in awhile and proof that votes could be won if they were willing to do the work for it.

2. United Arab Emirates Campus

Students and faculty were concerned about a number of issues with the creation of a campus in the UAE. The three most discussed concerns were human rights for faculty / staff / students at the campus (gender, sex and sexuality being the most often cited), academic freedom for participating faculty and students and concerns about the operating business model of the campus. While many students representatives were disappointed in the final decision, this is still an important case study for a number of reasons. First, it was an example of how the moral sway of senate can impact the conversation at BoG's. While the creation of a new campus is in many ways the responsibility of the BoG, it was conversations at senate that forced the BoGs to continue the conversation. Second, the UAE case is an example of how you can get concessions even while losing. Out of the discussions of the UAE, there was a monitoring program set up for the satellite campus and the first steps toward formalizing a more rigourous process for opening external campus.

3. Changes to the Calendar (Orientation)

There was a major push in the last year to have the academic calendar start during the Friday of orientation week. This would force students to come back to campus earlier and have a major impact on orientation week. At senate the issue was hotly contested by the Admin and student senators. There were a number of meetings with students and the VP Academic and Provost. Ultimately, while it was stated (after a tied vote) that the issue would return to senate, the VPAP decide to withdraw the motion until more consultation could occur. In the end, the committee and advocacy work of the senators allowed for a resolution to occur without needing to win at senate.